Action Comics #586

Action Comics #586

Originally released in 1987

Written by John Byrne

Art by John Byrne

About a year ago, I was nearing the end of my New Year's resolution; I wanted to read at least one comic a day and write down my thoughts online in the form of a blog.  Once I finished, it felt like a relief to not have to make a blog entry every day (I enjoyed it, but there were days where I had to rush to get a post made), but as the year went by, I grew to miss doing it. I'm going to start up a different blog, one that isn't tied to a specific year and doesn't require me to post every day, so I can write whenever the mood strikes me.

For my first post, I decided to go back to one of the first comics that I remember owning. (It was this or a Spider-Man comic featuring the Montreal Expos MLB team, and that one isn't available digitally) The cover stuck in my mind, but I remember very little about the story.  Revisiting it, the cover proclaims this to be part nineteen in a crossover called Legends, which is a little daunting, but I'm curious to see what I'll think of this now that I know who characters like Darkseid and Orion are.

Darkseid has brainwashed Superman into believing that he is Darkseid's son.  Having caught up on the DC Animated Universe in the past few years (I had mainly watched Batman: The Animated Series growing up, with bits of Superman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond), this was a plot that I had seen before, though thankfully, Superman is kept on Apokolips while his brainwashing is in effect, as Darkseid wants to test Superman before unleashing him on the universe.

Byrne's depiction of Darkseid in the artwork feels like a force of nature, as immovable as the Earth itself and looking like he was carved out of a mountain. The writing definitely feels inspired by Jack Kirby's; my main experience with Byrne's DC work is the four issue Man Of Steel series that introduced the post-Crisis incarnation of Superman, and this feels like an improvement.

Although this story is happening in Superman's comic, it's definitely more of an Orion story, with Superman spending most of it as Darkseid's brainwashed puppet.  To my knowledge, Jack Kirby's graphic novel The Hunger Dogs isn't available on the DC app, which is a shame because it would help to fill in the gaps between the 80s re-release of The New Gods that I'd read earlier and this.

However, once Orion shows Superman his true face, it distracts the Man of Steel long enough for the Mother Box to undo the brainwashing.  In the aftermath, the only time I can think of where I've seen Superman angrier is in the story For The Man Who Has Everything. (though I'm sure there are better examples from stories that I haven't read)

Superman takes the fight directly to Darkseid in the last few pages of the issue, and at this point, I could definitely see places where the DCAU took inspiration from this run; it felt like some lines of dialogue from Superman: The Animated Series were taken directly from it.

For this being part nineteen of a line-wide crossover, this issue is surprisingly easy to follow.  It helps that this issue (and the previous one, though I could still follow this without having read that one) tells a self-contained story, and Superman's memories of the betrayals that he committed under Darkseid's control were erased. (though I could see that coming back to haunt Superman if he ever returns to Apokolips)

Superman's battle with Darkseid proves to be inconclusive, with both of them getting some good hits in and Darkseid sending Superman back to Earth before the fight goes on for too long. I feel like I might have had a tough time following this issue back when I was a kid (it seems like it helps to have some pre-existing knowledge of Kirby's work on the New Gods, and my only exposure to those characters was likely the episode Apokolips Now from Superman: The Animated Series), but going back to it now, it's a solid comic that does a good job with tying Superman closer to the New Gods mythos.  He had a connection to it before (Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen was one of the series in Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga), but it was a loose connection, and this seems like a story that helps to establish Darkseid as part of Superman's personal rogues gallery.